Journey of a Wanderer
by cynthiarox66
Summary: A collection of poems depicting Kenshin's life in chronological order. Contains content from both anime and manga, bits from the OVA Trust and Betrayal, none from Reflection. Some KenshinxKaoru.
1. To Be a Killer

**Journey of a Wanderer:** a collection of poems (most of them in chronological order) exploring Kenshin's life from days as the Battousai through the Kyoto Arc and the Jinchuu Arc and beyond. Frequent updates. There will be KenshinxKaoru moments. There will be a lot of angst (but happy moments too).

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters.

**Rated T for: **mild language, bloodshed**  
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**~|||~()~|||~** signifies a new stanza.

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"To Be a Killer"**

"A sword is meant to kill—"

To draw crimson with each laceration

To maim and mutilate

And spare not the heart of its wielder

Assuage his guilt in bloodied fingers

And corpses strewn in waking path

Haul his conscious back to the bygone era

**~|||~()~|||~**

"Escape is futile—"

They stare through dull pebble eyes

Brotherless sisters, husbandless women

He and they, victims of one night

For his spirit is weary, his arms are sore

And his eyes are as blunt as the rocks by the well

Hands stultified by constant purging

**~|||~()~|||~**

"Paved the way for a new age—"

Green grass scorched black, battle in the air

Sparks and metal, shards of splintered chaos

Embed and ignite in the hearts of idealistic men

He's not them, he never was, yet…

Curse those misguiding, youthful beliefs

That dragged him down to be a killer.

* * *

**A/N: **_To those RK fanfic readers who know me as the author of "Dawns and Dusks" (also RK fanfic), these poems do not tie in with the story. Expect frequent updates. I will try to keep everything in order, but there may be a random poem here and there. If you wish for a multi-chap RK story, check out DD._

_I'm not a great poet, so forgive me. I epically FAIL at rhyming, so most of my poems will be freestyle ^.^ This first poem is more of a summary of Kenshin as an assassin._


	2. Spinning Top

_Men cannot spare to see past his exterior when they are fighting for their lives. So he will remain hitokiri, a child of prodigious skill caught in a net of turmoil. But when the job is done for the night, he will revisit a stolen childhood. A toy is small comfort in times like these.  
_

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters.

**o(^)o **signifies a new stanza.

* * *

**"Spinning Top"**

Indigo and olive and shaded white

Tinctures of the grimmest hour

Oh, those who wander, beware

**o(^)o**

Of the assassin among us.

**o(^)o**

Fleet-footed zori stir lifeless leaves

Nimble drawing and celestial swiftness

Slash the air into proportional quarters.

**o(^)o**

Four bodies crumble.

**o(^)o**

Unblemished fingers callous with revolutions

Callous and roughen for a new tomorrow

Captive in a hellish cycle.

**o(^)o**

Night unwinds to twirl again.

**o(^)o**

He can't miss a mother's bosom

Laughter, smiles, siblings, friends

Intangible, irrelevant comforts of child's play

**o(^)o**

Killing was never child's play

**o(^)o**

Painted colors merge together

As the tip travels across the floor

Violet eyes rest for now

**o(^)o**

He is but a boy

* * *

**A/N: **_In the OVA: Trust and Betrayal, Kenshin is seen with a wooden top that he brings out at night before he sleeps. According to sources, it's the one toy that he has, and it symbolizes his childhood. Throughout the OVA, the top reminds us that he is at heart, a fifteen year old boy._

_If you would like my break down/interpretation of any of these poems, feel free to PM me! I will try my best to dissect and explain ^.^ I hope you enjoyed it, please review and thanks for reading!  
_


	3. Wolves of a Pack

**"Wolves of a Pack": **_The Ishin Shishi and Shinsengumi are sworn rivals during the Edo period. Two killers on each side fight tooth and claw...but had it been a different time, perhaps the Lone Wolf would not be alone..._

**Disclaimer**: I do NOT own...blahblahblah, you get the gist._  
_

**\``(``/ **signifies new stanza**  
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**"Wolves of a Pack"**

Since when has war been personal

Of individual affair, revenge, and grudge

Venomous emotions that drain the swordsman spirit

Of punctured and mangled skin to no particular owner

Let poison eat away flesh of man

Flesh that is not his

Leave behind his rotting skeleton

And if his is a machine of justice, he will survive

Crusade with sightless eyes

He who wages war must sacrifice humanity

**\``(``/**

Since when did background ever matter

When all beings meet same fate long last

Peasant, merchant, landlord, samurai

Joined in arduous struggle, bathed in makeshift glory

It's for the greater cause

The future generation

The weak, the sick, the poor

They proclaim

Lies—war is bloodlust slathered in splendor

Last resort in its grandest mannequin

**\``(``/**

Since when did predators turn down prey

Bring on the wolves who roam unguarded

Counter their forces with breathing men

Watch them die in their own tears

Let summer showers dilute and disperse

Honor "heroes" as victims of brave spirit

And maybe then, man will see the doing of greed's manipulation

Oh! Weep for passed comrades sprawled in dirt

And where is glory when most needed—

Sprigs of flowers by their jaded crowns

**\``(``/**

Since when were there times of peace

Discontent courses deep in both sides

Amber locks with narrow orbs

Shift the grip on the hilt, shift the position of the stance

Shove aside petty values

And let hatred flicker in the present

Disintegrate with a city beyond restoration

But the wind will not sway with the charge

And the screams will not fade with the collide

Just a skirmish in the smoking scenery

**\``(``/**

And since when has war been personal

Hitokiri Battousai and Lone Wolf of Mibu

Two men with similar purposes and goals

To rid of each other

To whom has evil befallen?

Week-old moon witnesses their battle cries

From his Hiten-Misurugi and his Gotatsu ring visions of new era

Yet destiny wrangles fates and paths in desperate haze

They were meant to meet as rivals

They are only similar

**\``(``/**

But since when has war been personal

Perhaps the wolf would not howl in solitude

Slayers of the night who lurk in Kyoto streets combine

And differences bond instead of shred

**\``(``/**

Similar is not good enough.

* * *

**A/N: **_Inspiration for this? Well, I can't help but admire Saitou Hajime, I mean, how much cooler can an antagonist get? Sometimes, I prefer Saitou's way compared to Kenshin's (although I would never kill). Oh, this is also my little rant on war, mwahahaha.  
_

_Yes, they were rivals on opposite sides during the revolution, but the SIMILARITIES...both are unhappy with the Meiji government, yet both deal with it and try to make the world a better place based on their own beliefs. Both are phenomenal swordsmen...all the battles they've had have ended in a draw. Where does this poem fall on the timeline? Well...in the anime (don't know about the manga) around episode 28 Kenshin has this flashback where he is fighting against Saitou during the revolution...got to love Battousai ^.^  
_


	4. Iris

**"Iris": **_Based on the OVA: Trust and Betrayal, which shows a great representation of Kenshin's life during the revolution. They met in the bloody rain. He had just sliced a man in half, she had just seen the droplets fly through the air and splatter her umbrella. And in her intoxicated state, Tomoe saw beyond the killer inside Kenshin._

**Disclaimer**: I'm a lethargic, bag-eyed student abused by tests and homework. If I owned Rurouni Kenshin, I would had quit school long ago.

**v∫¥∫v **signifies new stanza**  
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"Iris"**

pretty, pretty iris flower

expose your petals in fine drizzle

smile

at the children splashing in muddy puddles

at the young wife hurrying home

at the farmer wiping sweat from his brow

tilt your head towards the heavens

to cradle moist droplets

waste not the offerings from divine heaven that

enhance your mist swathed features

slender, graceful stem of greenest spring

and glossy ladle leaves that loll with filling rain

**v∫¥∫v**

rainfall cleans your earthen bed

rainfall strips clear humble modesty

how your shy head blossoms so!

how translucent beads hang on matted sheen!

glistening hue of lilac plum

bold white tiger-stripes all the more profound

the key behind your naive allure is the taste

of secrecy against innocence

of the rare flower by the stagnant ditches

and turn Beast's head will

robbers, scoundrels, drunkards

grudgingly admire you

**v∫¥∫v**

but even then, you never expected

the worst of brute animals to see you

as anything more than a flower

to be picked, to be squashed, to be placed on a grave

Opposites—an understatement

bypassing killer, monster made from rock

he makes the run-off tint red

he splatters your petals with residue copper

he swipes his sword through the rain

to rid of evidence

he is the last man you thought to have

ever cupped a budding flower

**v∫¥∫v**

rooted in dyed earth

meant to observe, and never to interfer

has the rain made you rash, iris flower-

swollen your pretty head, fogged your vision?

you noticed that his eyes

match the color of your petals

eyes of double sided ambivalence, you know

even a killing katana has a dull side

shiver against glint of streaked metal, stretch out a tendril

to sheath Madness and reverse his blade

surely you've braced yourself for

inevitable contradiction

* * *

**A/N: **_In the OVA: Trust and Betrayal, Tomoe is compared to an iris flower. Iris flowers are most beautiful in the rain_-_even if it is a rain of blood. She is Kenshin's first love, and she helps him find the happiness he is killing for but has never felt for himself. But she has her secrets...those secrets indirectly cause the death of her by her loved one's sword._

_Yay! Finally updated ^.^ I played with capitalization and punctuation, and I had a lot of fun writing this poem. Any review is GREATLY appreciated...I'm just a little sad that I haven't gotten many reviews, but the joy of writing and having people just read my work is enough too ^.^_


	5. Beginning's End

**"Beginning's End": **_What more can be said? At long last, the hitokiri abandons his sword in the battlefield.  
_

**Disclaimer: **I no own, you no sue, how simple is that?

**l-..v **signifies new stanza**  
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* * *

"Beginning's End"**

Through days and nights

And nights and days

The beginning of the end

The end of the beginning

Finds us, flees us

With the background canon smoke

**l-..v**

Burn old adages and save

The new ones

Cremate your sick, your wounded, your dead

Maybe you'll find a suitable tombstone

Within the pile of debris

And I'll give you my best

**l-..v**

Gather the straw

Strike the match

And watch hackneyed dramas

Collapse into rubble

Slivers of my life mere embers

I linger

**l-..v**

But the sun sets at night

The wind gives rise from the sea

And I too, shall be going

Entrust a not-yet rusted sword with ghosts

Guard this unworthy relic

My warning to the new generation

**l-..v**

That there once was a sinned man

Who walked these streets

Sought for a dream in reality

He started

He pursued

He completed.

* * *

**A/N: **_So, Tomoe has died (that's the burning scene), the war is over, and a weary, eighteen (or is it nineteen?) year old Kenshin is finally able to stop killing. This marks the end of my Bakumatsu related poems. Coming up are a few poems about the sakabato and his life as a wanderer ^.^_**  
**


	6. Sakabato

**"Sakabato": **_Everything about him is a contradiction. Can his hands really carry out the oath he made to his heart?_**  
**

**Disclaimer: **insert the usual here

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* * *

"Sakabato"**

Scrap of metal

Showing signs of master craftsmanship

Worthless ideology

What he lives by

Prodigy—

Pulled into a cycle of guilt

Ten years is the…

Time it takes to start anew

If the sakabato is useless, then he

Is useless as well

Samurai is only as good as his

Sword.

* * *

**A/N: **_Short poem...played with some of the line beginnings...if you noticed, every two lines start with the same letter ^.^ teehehe, guess this shows you how bored I was. Well, there's not much to say...the poem kind of says it for itself._


End file.
